Process of producing gas.



W. H. FROST 8: J. 'J. NIX. PROCESS OF PRODUCING (ms.

I APPLICATION FILED OUT. 22, 1907.

900,065, Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I I I I 'jr lvez -z-zars 1%ze'ssesr f v I 7752v'evzwo (zs/uaJ/rz/ L W. H. FROST & J. J. NIX. PROCESS, OF. PRODUCING GAS.

APPLICATION FILED 00122, 1907.

900,065. I Patented Sept. 29,1908.

3 $HEETSSHEET 3.

. UNITED srA'rEs PATENT orries.

WARREN H. FROST AND iosnu r. NIX, or LosAiIeELEs, CALIFORNIA; SAID mxnssienon TO SAID. FROST.

rnoonss or'rnonuome GAS.

No. 900,065. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

Original application filed February 18, 1907, Serial No. 358,152. Divided. and this application filed October 22, 1901'. Serial No. 398,655.

- a To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, WARREN Faos'r and JOSHUA. J. Nix, citizens of the United.

States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of 'Los Angeles and State of California,

have invented a new and useful Process of.

Producing Gas, of'which the following is a specification.

- This invention relates particularly to the production of gas for use in internal combustion engines, although the gas may be used for other purposes.

The main object of the present invention is to produce gas from hydrocarbon oils in a continuous manner by internal combustion.

Another object of'the present invention is to dispense with the necessity of anystorage tanks.

Another object of the invention is to provide. for the production of gas of uniform quality or composition. j

Another object of the invention" is to provide for the production of gas having a larger proportion of fixed hydrocarbon gases than is the case with ordinary producer gas.

Another object of theinvention is to provide for automatic regulationof the gas pro d notion for fluctuations in the demand.

The present process is distinguished from those processes using retorts, in that the heat for production andfixation of the gas is generated internally, that is to say, in the same chamber or space which 'contains the. hydrocarbon to be g'asified, so that the heat does not have to be transmitted through the walls. Said retort processes are not suitable for the production of gas from heavy hydrocarbons, in that the accumulation of residuum and deposits interferes seriously with the continuity and economy of the process and with theuniformity of the gas, and also in that the expense of such produc? tion is prohibitive. The process of the present invention is also distinguished from those processes involving internal combustion intermittently with the gas generation, the heat being applied to and stored in a chamber-or body and the. generation of the heat being then stopped and shifted to another point and the gas bein generated by applying the, oil to the chum er or body so. heated. In this intermittent or alternate and the character of the generated gas varies with the falling temperature. This variation is equalized in practice by the use of storage tanks or gasometers in whichthe varying constituents are allowed to mix before consumption.

The present invention provides for a continuous generation at uniform temperature and thereby produces gas of uniform quality or composition and dispenses with the necessity of any storage-tank means. According to the present invention gas is generated by passing the oil, or the vapor formed by atomizing oil, into or through a heating zone which is kept continuously at a high temperature by supplementary heating'means or burners, the reaction or mutual action of the its upper portion to a suction means con tinuously drawing the chamber.

While. we have herein shown apparatus for'carrying out the process,suchapparatus is not claimed herein, being claimed in our application Serial No. 358,152, filed Feb. 18, 1 907, of which this application is a division. The process is carrled out in the apparatus shown in the accompanying 'drawings, wherein Figure f is a vertical section of the apparatus partly in elevation. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line w -m in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line w m in Fig. 1. Fi at is a side elevation. Fig. 5'is a detail side elevation ofthe generator feed or supply. Fig. 6'is an end elevation thereof; Fig. 7' is a front elevation of the heatin burner. Fig: 8 isahorizontal section thereo The apparatus comprises a furnace or generator 1 preferably formed of masonry or other heat-resisting material and formed with an interior vertical chamber 21xa'nd a;

flue 3 leading upwardly therefronito adiecharge outlet at the top of an outlet c'onduitfl, having an upwardly inclined ex'ten .sion 5'into a stack 6. Said stack is pro-- vided with a closure valve 7, andan' aspirator 8'is connected. to the stack or to the outlet flue5 to draw the gas therefrom into de-' the produced gas from 'livery pipe 12, as hereinafter set forth, said aspirator being actuated by Water supplied by pipe 9.

sHeating burners 10, of which there may be any desired number, are provided, discharging inwardly into the chamber 2, said burners being provided.- with air and oil supply means, as hereinafter set forth, and having outlet means 0 jet pieces 11, whose openings are directed ob iquely downward toward the center of the chamber 2 so that the jets isfsuing from said openings, will meet in the from the burner near enough to the bottom thereof to keep the bottom well heated, avoiding deposition of carbon thereon.

Means are provided for supplying oil, or a mixture of oil and air suitable for the gas to be produced, below the flame or flames or burners 1.0, said means consisting of an inlet pipe 15' extending through the wall of the generator and connected to an oil feed as hereinafter described,

to furnish a supply of atomized oil, together with air, to the lower part of the chamber 2. The said supply means for this outlet, shown in Figs. 5 and 6, comprises an oil supply pipe '17, a chambered fitting 18 connected to said oil supply pipe by a connecting member 19, a glass or transparent tube 20 con necting said oil supply pipe with thechamber 21 in said fitting so as to produce a sight feed for the supply, and an air supply pipe 22 having a nozzle 23 extending 1nto said chamber to produce an injector effect there- 1n, the walls of sa1d chamber being narrower at 24 to accentuate said injector eii'ect checker work or fire and cause the'mixture of air and atomized oil to pass into the inlet pipe 15.

he upper portion of chamber 2 prfen ably converges upward to its outlet into flue 3, and said flue may be swelled or enlarged to form a supplementary chamber and may be provided with bafiies in the form of brick obstructions 25 extending across the same to deflect the up wardly passing gases and cause more thorough mixture.

26 designates a door, plug or other means in the wall forgiving access to the chamber 2 in starting up, etc.

In order to heat the oil before it passes to the burners and also'in order to cause preliminary separation of-the oil, as far as pos sible, in the manner hereinafter set forth, the tank 27 for containing the oil supply is placed on or near the generator or furnace in such position as to receive the heat therefrom, for example, being placed thereon around the outlet fine 4, so that the hot gases pass upwardly through said line and heat said tank. 28 desi nates the oil supply pipe to this oil tank and 53 a plug for drawing ofl residuum.

29- designates' the oil outlet pipe leading from the lower part of the tank'through pipes 30 and valves 31 to the heating burners 10. A pipe 3% leads from the upper part of-the tank 27 to the supply 17 for the generator burner, and is provided with a valve 36 operated by connections 37 from a governor 38 on the engine 39 which is supplied with gas from the producer. A connection is made from the delivery pipe 12 through suitable scrubbing means 57, see Fig. 4, to the inlet 55 for the engine. A manual valve may also be provided for the oil supply. The connections 37 may also operate a valve 33 controlling the air supply to the mixture inlet. intake stroke tends to draw the gas through the connections between the producer and the engine through the scrubber 57, and thereby aids in maintaining the passage or supply of air and con'ibustible to the gas generating chamber. The air supplied to the heating burners is preferably heated by the exhaust from said engine, pipe 32 for said air supply passing around said exhaust and communicating through the valve 10 with pipe 4-2 for the said burners. 'lhis air issupplied at a considerable. pressure gem erated by any suitable means, such as a. pump not shown. While various forms of heating burners may be used in connectirm with thcapparatus, that shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is especially designed for this purpose, the burner head 11 being attached to a plate 43 secured to the ,wall of the gei'lorator chamber, said plate having openings 44 for the passage of air extending obliquely thercthrough so as to converge tow-aid the burner jet opening 45 which is formed in a head or nozzle 11 projecting from the base of a conical depression 46 in said plate. Damper means consisting of a plate 41-7 is adjustably secured on the s1.| )porting plate 4-3 by means of screws 48 extending through slots 49- on said damper plate, the said damper plate having perforations 50 to register more or less with the openings 4:4- in the supporting plate. In order to enable quick adjustment, for example, on stopping the engine, means are provided for indicating accurately the degree of opening of the damper, such means consisting of an index or pointer 51 on the damper moving over a fixed graduated scale 52. Pipe 42 opens laterally into an outer pipe 54 screwing The suction of the engine 39 at each onto the outer end of burner nozzle 11. Said nozzle has a bore 55 smaller'than pipe 54. The oil su' ply pipe 29 extends into the the engine 39 or servicepipes not shown;

end of pipe 54 eyond the opening of pipe 42.

The process is carried out in the above describednpparatus as follows: (llo$ure or valve .7 in thestack is opened and the heating burners 10 are turned on and ignited,

the jets in said burners extending into the chamber 2, heating the same, 'and the" hot gases passing up through the flue 3 and out through the stack. When the-chamber 2. has

thus become thorou 'hly heated, the damper 7 in the stack is-closed, the aspirator 8 is turned on so as to draw the gases. downwardly through the delivery pipe 12 to any suitable consumption means, for example,

and the valves 40, 31 for the mixture of producing supply means are turned on, causing a supply of atomized oil together with just suflicient air to carry the same is thereby blown into the lower part oflthe chamber 2. 'lhe two jets from the opposite burners 10 meet in themiddle of the furnace, and by their impingement and opposition mutually arrest each other and produce a zone or layer of intensely heated gases extending across the chamber at a level between the lower and upper portions thereof and above the intakeof the producing mixture. The mixture is applied under the pressure of, say

20 pounds to the square inch, and the same is true of the oil, and this together with the suction by the aspirator and the suction of Y the. engine or consuming means, causes a flow of the producing mixture upwardly through or into thishigh temperature zone. The chamber 2 is open to the outer. air

through the openings 44, and the air com pressed and forced in with the oil is not sufiicient to support combusti0n,- the oil so carried 1-11 burmng 1n the open chamber and f the combustion being supported by the air passing through openings 44 and the combustlon thus takes place in the presence of air at substantially atmospheric pressure.

We thus insure complete combustion of the oil and maximum temperature of the heating flame, without compression of more than a small part of the air and 'witha correspondingly great economy. The suction of the-products of combustion, from the top of the chamber, by the engine and the-aspirator, keeps the products of combustion away from the incoming combustible and air, thus aiding in. maintaining perfect combustion at the heating burners. The condition of suction maintained in the chamber is also of advantage, as compared with a condition of pressure, for mechanical reasons, in preventing leaka e and reducing the strains on the parts of t e furnace.

In the above described construction the interior of the chamber is clear or free of solid .correspondence withthe fluctuations.

obstructions, such as brick or checkwork; in

the ath of the jets. Consequently thereis no liability of deposition of carbon onsol-id surfaces. This is further insured by the fact that each of the heating gets is impin ed by an opposing elastic flul jet (name y, the other burner jet) which arrests "it, in the interior'-ofthe chamber, and'prevents it from impingingonthe opposite wall The ve rti- .cal dispositio'nof the chamber 1s also of importance in this connection as it permits of the jets being arranged in this manner.

The battle devices 25 in the outlet flue are "for the purpose of insuring more thorough jmixture of. thegases and complete combustion. By'proper adjustment of the heating burners and roducing inlet valves, it is possible to maintain continuity of the process for an almost indefinite length ,of time,

producing gas of uniform quality ready for instant delivery'to the service or consumption means without having to be stored or mixed. For this reason and also for the very fact that the process is continuous, the capacity of the plant is large compared with one of the same size using-the intermittent I process.

It will be the oil tank at a point between the upper and lower portions thereof and that the outlet to the heating burners is from the lower portion, and the outlet to the producing inlet is from the upper portion. "Vhen oils of high gravity are heated, there is a tendency for the heavier constituents to settle and these will pass down to the heating burners,

whereas the more volatile constituents will have a tendency to pass through the upper outlet and thence to the producing inlet. This ispf advantage in that the heating burners are more capable of utilizing the cuts could not be so advantageously utilized in the producing inlet, as they could not be so satisfactorily atomized'in. the manner required. Any volatile constituents of the oil tiondispense's with the use of a storage tank and therefore it is necessary to cut down or increase the supply in response to the diminishing or increasing'demand. For example, in case of a producer used in connection with a gas engine, it is necessary to reduce or increase the supply'in accordance with the demands of the engine, and for this purpose noted that the oil is supplied to heavier constituents, Whereas such constituthe-connection from the engine governor to the oil supply for the producing inlet is promaintaining-it by the aspirator.

When the producer is used in connection With. a gas engine We prefer to make the capacity of the chamber 2 correspond, roughly speaking, to the capacity of the engine cylinder, the throat or outlet portion 3 being in that case of such size as to represent the volume of the valve passages, etc. Thus at each operation enouglrmixtnre is drawn through and formed into gas to charge the cylinder.

that We claim is 1. The process of producing gas from carbonaceous material Which consists in con tinuously generating in a chamber, in. the presence ofair at substantially atmospheric pressure, a zone of high temperature gases, passing into said chamber carbonaceous material with an elastic fluid medium, during such generation of the high temperature zone, and Withdrawing the produced gases by suction from the chamber, the high temperature zone being between the place of admission of the carbonaceous material and the place of the suction of the produced gases. 5

The process of producing gas from liquid hydro-carbons, Which consists in corn tinuously generating in a chamber in the presence of air at substantially atmospheric pressure, a. Zone of high temperature gases, passing into said chamber hydro-carbon with an elastic fluid medium. during such generation of the high temperature Zone, and with-- drawing the produced gases, by suction, tron-1 the (:haml the high temperature zone being between the place of admission of the hydro-carbon and the place of suction of the produced gases.

The process of producing gas from liquid hydro-carbons, which consists in di rooting a burner flame into a chamber in the presence of air at snbstantially atmospheric pressure to internally heat the chamber, ')assinghydro-carbon with anelastic fluid medium into the chamber below the level of the burner .flame and'withdrawing, by suction, the gases from the chamber above the level of the burner flame.

4. The process of producing gas from liquid hydrocarbons which consists in heating the hydrocarbon, separating the lighter from the heavier constituents thereof, burning a heavier portion of the oi l-in a chamber to heat the same internally and continuously, passing a lighter portion of the oil into the chamber with an elastic fluid medium, and drawing the same through the heated portion of the chamber and out of the chamber by suction applied to the chan'iber.

The process of producing gas for a variable supply, which consists in directing a burner flame into a chamber, in the presence of air at substantially atmospheric pressure, to internally heat the chamber, passing oil with elastic tluid medium into said chamber, drawing produced gas from the chamber to a variable consuming means, and controlling the oil supply in accordance with the demands of the consuming means.

6. The process of producing gas from liquid hydrocarbons which consists in cansing the flames from a. plurality of burners to impinge in opposition, within a chamber, to form a Zone of high temperature, supplying hydrocarbon with an elastic fluid to the chamber below said Zone, and drawing ott the produced above said zone.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles, California, this 15th day of October 1907.

W ARRE U H. FRO ST. JOSHUA J. FIX.

In presence ot- An'rnnn P. Kxruirr, FRANK L. A. GRAHAM. 

